Glitch (Glitch Trilogy, #1)

by Heather Anastasiu

[ladygrey]

2.5 stars. I debated between 2 and 3 stars because it really wasn't that bad - it just wasn't that great either.

I feel like it took me forever to read this book, and it probably did take me longer than usual even though it seems like it was only one day like usual. But it was so thick with Zoe's internal monologue. I was thirty pages in and there had been less than a dozen lines of dialog and I didn't know if I could handle it. Then the pace changed and there was action and talking and it was good - until it was all Zoe all the time all over again.

And this isn't the first book I've read that's written in first person and ends up being, essentially, a solitary character in the story. I don't ever like it - but when it happens the thing that matters is how interesting that character is and/or how interesting is the world their in. This book would have been three stars except everything was only mildly interesting.

Zoe was naive and worked well as a character trying to understand humanity. It's a good way to talk about basic human emotions and reactions and is probably more interesting when you're 12 or 14 and trying to make sense of the world (except eventually you have to say "tears" and "cry" because the number of times water came pouring out of one person's eyes or another was ridiculous).
Max was exactly what I thought he was. And I never believed for a second that he really loved Zoe. Their entire relationship was either about him wanting her or them fighting. There was never anything from him that was affectionate or compassionate or endearing or anything but wanting her. So I never believed him when he said he loved her. Even at the end.
Adrien was decent interesting and the story was more interesting with him if for no other reason that he created mostly meaningful dialog.

The world wasn't interesting enough to offset all the internal monologue either. It was moderately unique. And kind of plausible. Very much [b:Divergent|13335037|Divergent (Divergent, #1)|Veronica Roth|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328559506s/13335037.jpg|13155899] 10 years later. Or 200 or whatever. But the plot wasn't nearly as compelling as Divergent. And the world as a whole not quite fascinating enough.

Again, not bad. A different balance of description and dialog or a little bit more compelling world or a broader, more interesting cast of characters and it would have totally been 3 stars.